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Friday December 20: Vancouver Canucks 3 Chicago Blackhawks 2 (S/O)
That should help keep the rivalry alive! The Canucks spotted the hometown Blackhawks a 2-0 lead, then came back to win the game in a lengthy shootout. Really.
Here are your highlights:
If you watched the game from the opening puck drop, there wasn't a lot of reason for optimism. Vancouver was outshot 10-3 in the first period, with the only shots on goal coming from Chris Higgins (on a breakaway), Tom Sestito and Andrew Alberts.
The Hawks took the lead at the 7:49 mark of the first, when Kris Versteeg tipped a Patrick Kane shot past a disappointed Eddie Lack.
As they did in Dallas the night before, the Canucks came out with more fire in the second period and peppered Antti Raanta with shots, but Kane showed why he's now No. 2 in NHL scoring when he pushed the lead to 2-0 on a rebound off Chicago's first offensive pressure of the period, nearly five minutes in.
Zack Kassian got the Canucks back into the game less than four minutes later when Jason Garrison sprung him loose for a wrist shot from the left wing that deflected off defenseman Brent Seabrook, bringing the score to 2-1. Vancouver outshot Chicago 14-7 in the second frame but the Hawks tightened up defensively in the second half—the Canucks' last shot of the second came from Mike Santorelli with 7:53 to go.
Eddie Lack was impressive against the strongest offensive team in the league, with his most spectacular save of the game coming against Ben Smith with less than two minutes to go in the second period.
Neither team gave up many chances in the third period—the shots were 8-6 for the Blackhawks—but Daniel Sedin was able to tie the game midway through the frame when he kicked a rebound from his skate to his stick, then roofed the puck into the top corner—all while falling at the side of the net. It was only Daniel's second goal in his last 10 games, but it was a beauty that'll be remembered for its impact.
Going into Friday's game, the Blackhawks were 12-2-4 at the United Center this season, and hadn't lost in 15 games when they'd scored the first goal. They'd also scored a power play goal in each of their last ten games, but had that streaked stopped by Vancouver's league-best penalty kill.
Even with the lingering rivalry between the two teams, the Hawks probably didn't expect such a pushback from Vancouver as the game went on. As John Tortorella promised, the Canucks amped up the pressure even more once the game got to overtime. Though each team managed just one shot in the extra frame, Torts played riverboat gambler as time wound down, loading up with three forwards and Dan Hamhuis as the lone defenseman. The twins and Mike Santorelli generated a spectacular near-miss with just over a minute to go, as Santorelli deked around Antti Raanta but wasn't quite able to pull the puck back tight enough to tuck it into the open corner.
After the shootout loss in Minnesota earlier this week, Torts promised he'd try to be more aggressive to try to avoid sending more games to the shootout. Thanks to Wachry for his info a couple of days ago, about why it's a bad idea to pull the goalie in overtime:
84.2 Overtime – Regular-season – Extra Attacker - A team shall be allowed to pull its goalkeeper in favor of an additional skater in the overtime period. However, should that team lose the game during the time in which the goalkeeper has been removed, it would forfeit the automatic point gained in the tie at the end of regulation play
Despite the attempt to avoid the dreaded shootout, that's exactly where we ended up—with highly entertaining results.
Mike Santorelli gave the Canucks the early 1-0 lead, while Eddie Lack started his first-ever NHL shootout by stoning Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews before allowing a goal from Patrick Sharp to send the contest to extra rounds. Lack stood tall the rest of the way, making it look easy.
Torts said the other day that he wanted to use different guys—and he did. Zack Kassian, David Booth, Zac Dalpe and Yannick Weber all took turns before Ryan Kesler was finally able to win the game for Vancouver in Round No. 8.
The Sedins got their turn too, and based on their history, Daniel's attempt actually wasn't too bad. It sounds like Torts will keep trying them, too. He said he wants to use them, and they want to be a part of it. I don't mind that; it doesn't make sense that they're so bad. I think there's a switch that could flip and they'll suddenly become shootout-scoring machines.
The Canucks stayed overnight in Chicago on Friday and will fly home on Saturday to prepare for an afternoon game against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday before their Christmas break.
The win against Chicago ties Vancouver with San Jose for third place in the Pacific Division, though the Sharks still have three games in hand. It also puts the Canucks six points clear of fifth-place Phoenix, though the Coyotes have four games in hand.
Sunday will mark game 39 for Vancouver. The halfway point of the season will be here before New Year's!
Quick Hits:
- For all my concerns about Ryan Kesler's health after the Dallas game, he seemed to be his usual self on Friday. He finished the game with over 25 minutes of ice time, three shots, three hits and two penalties. He looked to be working with his full toolbox on that shootout winner!
- The Canuck connection at the World Junior Championship took a hit on Friday when Hunter Shinkaruk was cut from the squad after Team Canada's first tuneup game against Finland. Shinkaruk missed out on the 2013 squad due to injuries last year and has been hampered by health issues again this season. Brad Ziemer of the Vancouver Sun talked to assistant general manager Laurence Gilman, who said the Canucks will be reaching out to Shinkaruk in an effort to help soften the blow of being cut.
The Canucks' other prospect, Bo Horvat, played well in Friday's game against Finland, scoring a goal in Team Canada's 4-2 comeback win.